Tips on Choosing the Right Wedding Venues and Vendors

Choosing the right wedding venues and vendors are an essential part of the bridal planning process. The decisions you make on choosing clients to run your wedding ceremony and wedding reception will be key factors on how successful your wedding will be. Choosing the right venues and vendors are critical factors for the most important day or your life.

Before you make any decisions on hunting down venues and vendors you need to have a wedding budget and break that budget into wedding category components. You also need a ballpark of how many wedding guests you plan to have at your wedding. Next you need to start going down the list of wedding categories and identify 3 or 4 wedding venues or vendors per each and every category.

Research the internet, check with friends, look at the local yellow pages, check the newspaper, you may stop by the Chamber of Commerce too. You should capture for each business, the name of the business, the street address, their phone number, their website information, their Facebook page, and blog if they have those too. You also may to decide to use a wedding planner to plan your wedding, they can help you too. Also when you meet with wedding venues and vendors they leave suggest too. Also check in with family members and friends they may make suggestions too.

Lets first address finding a wedding venue. A wedding venue is a place where you have a wedding function. It can be a church, chapel, ceremony site, wedding reception, a wedding tent, outdoor location or a rehearsal dinner place. You should consult a wedding planning checklist and use their suggested order to determine the order of contact. Before making a phone call to a wedding venue you should know your targeted budget for that wedding category, the targeted date of your wedding, and ball park figure of your wedding guest count.

It is highly recommended to make a phone call first, some wedding couples do make contact with email, do not use text as text is considered too informal, best to use text when touching base. There are four primary things you want from the initial conversation before deciding to proceed with a one on one interview with the venue. First, is the venue available for your wedding date; second, is the venue the right size for the amount of wedding guests you are planning; third, what is the cost of the venue or range of costs; and fourth, is how was the demeanor of the person answering the phone.

Whether you decide to proceed with an in person interview is determined by the following facts. If the date is available great, if not can you change the date, second you want a venue that fits the size of your wedding guests, you don't want a space that's too crowded and you don't want a space too empty, the space has to be just right for your wedding guests to have a good time, as for the costs, you only want to proceed if the venue is no more higher than 25 percent of your targeted budget, that means if your budget is $10,000, your limit to proceed further would be $12,500. (Please note, many vendors will resist giving you a price or price list, they want the upper hand). Don't give your targeted price, your goal is to find if their price range is in your targeted range in order to meet with them, you don't want to meet with them and waste your time and their time if the price is too high. Lastly, how was their phone personality, customer service is important, were they professional on the phone. If all above are good, set up an appointment for a one on one interview.

Now to phase 2. When you meet with them in person, be sure you are on schedule, you are on time for the appointment, if you get caught in slow traffic call. Before your meeting you should know the budget, be familiar of the business website, know how many people ballpark who will be at your wedding, and your targeted cost, and have a bunch of questions laid out what to ask, you also might have a wedding planner, laptop computer, notebook, or piece of paper with your questions and put your notes on your questionaire. At your appointment you should bring along a friend, could be anyone involved with your wedding, your fiance, your maid of honor, a bridesmaid, your mother, a sister, or even a best friend, this person is a witness to what was discussed. First thing you should get is a business card, sometimes the venue has a brochure.

Usually the interview should let the wedding venue representative speak first and talk about their business and how they operate, next you should ask all your question, and then get a walk-thru of the facility and then sit back down and then you can divulge your target price. You don't want to make a decision until you have interviewed all your wedding venues, which should be at least 3 or 4 venues in that specific wedding category. Immediately after meeting with them you will want to score them, that means to evaluate them. They may apply sales pressure, you want to hold them off and make a sound decision and not be swayed, you want to make your best decision. Remember, you are the boss, you hold the upper hand, it is your wedding. If they offer you a special deal before walking out the door, more than likely the deal will still be there as long as you make contact within a week.

One last thing, once you make a decision, let the wedding venue you are going to go with, book first and get papers signed quickly. This is in the event when you signing papers and to decide to book with them, if something comes up at the booking, you still have your other options. Sometimes things happen before signing the papers, they might have booked another or something is not right in the contract. Make sure everything agreed to is in the contract.

You should interview all your venues within 10 days of each other and book with them no later than two weeks after your appointment. After you have signed papers and booked with the venue, let all the other venues you interviewed with of your decision. They may have slotted you and you are holding the slot up. They may also ask why you do not choose them, talk the positive of the venue that you have chosen, you don't want to burn bridges if something does happen and you go back to them later. You want to let the venue know so they don't continue holding your slot, so they can book the slot to somebody else. You don't want to be responsible and due harm to the business resulting in that venue losing a wedding to work.

If you would like help in deciding which wedding venue to go with, if you have 2 or more venues to decide on evaluate the wedding venue by giving each factor a rating from 1 to 10. After you are done total the score of the wedding venue, this is just a guide, it's totally your decision.

                                                    Scoring the Wedding Venue
                                          (Applying Scores 1 is Poor, 10 is Outstanding

 Factors                           Venue #1           Venue #2          Venue #3        Venue #4

1-Location
2-Wedding Coordinator
3-Communication Skills
4-Experience of Staff
5-Charm Factor
6-Architecture
7-Theme and Style
8-Logistics
9-How Long in Business
10-Decoration Possibilities
11-Amenities & Extras
12-Website
13-Alexa Reading
14-References
15-Price
Total

1-Location
If the venue is the church, chapel, or ceremony site measure distance in miles from the bride's house. If the venue is a reception facility or rehearsal dinner measure distance in miles from where the wedding ceremony is taking place. 10 points if the distance is less than 4 miles, 9 points 4-6 miles, 8 points 6-8 miles, 7 points 8-10 miles, 6 points 10-12 miles, 5 points 12-14 miles, 4 points 14-16 miles, 3 points 16-18 miles, 2 points 18-20 miles, 1 point if greater than 20 miles.

2-Wedding Coordinator
This factor is in essence is evaluating the prime interface person of the wedding venue in question. This could be a wedding coordinator, manager, caterer, officiant, or a church aide. This person kind of runs the show at the facility. To get a high rating, the person takes control insuring you have the perfect wedding, they know their profession well, they know where everything is, they can answer any question that you ask, they have received proper training and participate in continuing education, they have respect when they give orders, they make sure everything is taken care for the wedding, they keep in control if a situation arises, they don't panic, they don't show frustration, they don't show a temper, they handle the hot situation of the moment, they are helpful in ordering things for the wedding, are wedding couple focused, they work in an upbeat mood with a smile and they are polite to everybody. Score 10 points if they are all mentioned above, less points for every flaw they have, 1 point for a bad manager. Some of the evaluation is from people that have worked or seen this person work, you might stop by sometime to see them in action and some of the score is subjective.

3-Communication Skills
The communication skills is all about the interface you have with the venue. When you need to contact the venue to tell them something, you can reach someone to forward the information you want to tell (e.g. there is a change to the wedding guest count, a change to the meal, what time should the musicians arrive at the ceremony, etc.). Also should something come up, the venue will contact you right away. The venue also educates you on their operation and can explain things in a matter that you fully understand. 10 points if they are outstanding at communicating, 1 point if they are poor or somewhere in the middle.

4-Experience of Staff
The average time working of the important members of the staff, 10 points for 10 or more years working, 9 points for 9 years, 8 points for 8 years, 7 points for 7 years, 6 points for 6 years, 5 points for 5 years, 4 points for 4 years, 3 points for 3 years, 2 points for 2 years, 1 point for 1 year or less.

5-Charm Factor
How beautiful the Venue is consider all these things, the view of the entrance, the view of the building or entryway of the venue, the view of the surrounding area, and how beautiful is the inside or outside of the venue itself, 10 points for everything breathtaking, 1 point for all being pretty ugly or some points for somewhere in between, a higher ranking for more charm a lower score for less charm.

6-Architecture 
The architecture is basically the layout arrangements and the trim. Basically you are looking for a nice flow, a good area for dining, drinking, talking, and dancing or plenty of space for setup at the ceremony site. The place shows plenty of character has really neat molding, has beautiful art or sculptures, has beautiful lighting, has picture windows with beautiful views, or pretty decorations. 10 points for breathtaking, 1 point for pretty vanilla (a room that's a square box with no trimmings). Or some points in between.

7-Theme and Style
Some brides like their wedding contemporary, some brides their wedding country, some brides like their wedding Victorian, some brides like a beautiful scenery such as a beach or a lakeside or a mountain view. If your venue fits your theme and style score 10 points or is totally different than what you are looking for score 1 point. Or if the venue kind of has what you are looking for score them somewhere in between.

8-Logistics
If we are talking ceremony site 1 point each 1)Holding room for bride, 2)Place for musicians, 3)Plenty of room around perimeter of the ceremony location, 4)Spacious ceiling, 5)Privacy area, 6)Not competing with other weddings, 7)Has ample outlets, 8)Has good acoustics/vibrations, 9)Has good lighting, 10)Has good parking.

If we are talking wedding reception or rehearsal dinner 1 point each 1)Plenty of room for dining, 2)Plenty of room for drinking, 3)Plenty of room for talking, 4)Plenty of room for dancing, 5)Privacy Area, 6)Not competing with other receptions , 7)Has ample outlets, 8)Has good acoustics/vibrations, 9)Has good lighting, 10)Has good parking.

9-How Long in Business
If the venue has been in operation 10 years or more score 10 points, 9 points for 9 years, 8 points for 8 years, 7 points for 7 years, 6 points for 6 years, 5 points for 5 years, 4 points for 4 years, 3 points for 3 years, 2 points for 2 years, 1 point for 1 year or less.

10-Decoration Possibilities
Do you have total control of completely decorating your wedding and you can have control of what extra things you can have at your at the venue or do you have absolutely no control or say in how to design the venue (such as incorporating color schemes and wedding themes) and what you can have at your wedding venue (such as having musicians, dance floors, candy buffets, ice sculptures, photo booths, etc). 10 points for total control, 1 point for absolutely no control or a number in between if you have some control, a higher number for more control a lower number for less control.

11-Amenities & Extras
Does the venue offer a lot of extra things and amenities besides their core business in which it can save you a lot of money and add elegance to your wedding. Can they provide a lot of decorations to your wedding venue, do they include wait staff, food, drinks, linens, elegant table wear, wedding cakes, musicians, photographers, dance floors, special lighting, etc. If they offer a lot of amenities score 10 points, if they only provide their basic core business give them 1 point, if they offer some basic extras give them a number in between.

12-Website
The website often correlates often on how well the business is doing. A great website greets the visitor with a good first impression and pops up on the screen pretty fast. The website is easy to navigate around, has good content, is up to date, shows some good photos or videos and possibly uses something like youtube, has a little information on the history of the business and a little write-up about the staff, has a picture of the business and shows a map on how to get to the business and has all the contact information, name of business, address of business, phone number, person to contact, their email, and where you might find more about the business using blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. If an outstanding website score 10 points, if a very ugly website score 1 point or if half good and half bad, score somewhere in between. If a business has no website score them 3 points, some businesses choose to advertise through other vendors.

13-Alexa Reading
Some people may ask, what in the heck is an Alexa Reading. An Alexa Reading is in the word of search engines how popular is a businesses' website. Take note of the website address or URL of the website. Go to www.alexa.com and you will see a search bar to input a website address or URL into and then hit the green search bar button to the right, and you should get back an alexa traffic rank. The lower the number, the higher the ranking, it shows how popular the website is. If the ranking is below 2 million score 10 points, 9 points 2-3 million, 8 points 3-4 million, 7 points 4-5 million, 6 points, 5-6 million, 5 points 6-7 million, 4 points, 7-8 million, 3 points 8-9 million, 2 points, 9-10 million, 1 point if greater than a 10 million alexa traffic rank, also 1 point if no alexa reading comes up.

14-References
Hopefully the venue can give you 3 references, you should try to interview at least 2 of the references. You should ask each reference contact 3 questions, how would you rate them 1-10. 10 being outstanding 1 very poor. How well was the venue run(1-10)? Was the people that ran the venue, were they very reliable(1-10)? How was the communication between the venue and yourself(1-10)? Input the average score. If you aren't provided any references, give them the benefit of the doubt of scoring them a 1 and give them a score of 3.

15-Price
Start with your targeted budget and then obtain the price they quoted you. If the price is not higher than your budget score 10 points, 9 points if not greater than 2% of your budget, 8 points if not greater than 4% of your budget, 7 points if not greater than 6% of your budget, 6 points, if not greater than 8% of your budget, 5 points, if not greater than 10% of your budget, 4 points if not greater than 12 % of your budget, 3 points if not greater than 14% of your budget, 2 points if not greater than 16% of your budget, 1 point if the venue price is greater than 16% of your budget. For a breakdown, if your targeted budget was $10,000, if the venue price was $10,000 or below 10 points, 9 points for 10,000 to $10,200, 8 points for $10,200 - $10,400, 7 points for $10,400 - $10,600, 6 points for $10,600 to $10,800, 5 points for $10,800 - $11,000, 4 points for $11,000 - $11,200, 3 points for $11,200 - $11,400, 2 points for $11,400 - $11,600, and 1 point for greater than $11,600.

Now accumulate all the scores for each venue and the one with the highest wedding venue score is what an evaluation of the venues recommends. This is just a guide, it's really up to you to decide.

As to how to score or evaluate a wedding vendor, the process is similar to scoring a wedding venue but their are different factors to score. Again you do your research from websites, friends, yellowpages, and other wedding vendors. You again should have gathered before phoning them, your targeted wedding date, a ballpark amount of wedding guests you are expecting, and a targeted budget. You also want to evaluate the phone conversation, do they act professional and do they have a nice phone personality.

If they pass the phone test and you decide to meet them in person have your fiance, maid of honor, mother, sister, bridesmaid, or best friend along, again they are a witness to what is verbalized and promised. Some vendors will want you to meet them at their studio, some will meet you at your house, and some will meet you somewhere in between. Make sure the place you can meet has a little bit of room to look at brochures and you can indulge in conversation. Could be a restaurant during their slow period, could be an office or country club or a golf club. Be sure to get their business card first and have plenty of questions to ask them.

First let them talk about their business and how they operate, verify that they are okay with your targeted wedding date and how many wedding guests you are expecting and where your wedding and wedding reception is going to be. Hold off on giving your budgeted price until late in your discussions. After they review how they operate, then ask them your questions, try to get them to answer any question you have. Then review the brochures or if they are at studio let them show you around. Don't commit to signing or booking with them until you have finished with interviewing with all your vendors in the particular wedding category. You should interview 3 or 4 vendors at least for each wedding category.


                                                    Scoring the Wedding Vendor
                                          (Applying Scores 1 is Poor, 10 is Outstanding

 Factors                           Vendor #1          Vendor #2         Vendor #3       Vendor #4

1-Travel Distance
2-Vendor Professionalism
3-Communication Skills
4-Experience of Vendor
5-Charm Factor
6-Knowledge
7-Comfortable To Work With
8-Quality of Product
9-Time Business in Operation
10-How Many Weddings
11-Dresses & Grooms Well
12-Website
13-Alexa Reading
14-References
15-Price
Total

1-Travel Distance
Measure distance to their primary venue. If the vendor travels less than 10 miles 10 points, 9 points 10-15 miles, 8 points 15-20 miles, 7 points 20-25 miles, 6 points 25-30 miles, 5 points 30-40 miles, 4 points 40-60 miles, 3 points 60-80 miles, 2 points 80-100 miles, 1 point greater than 100 miles.

2-Vendor Professionalism
The vendor comes across as very professional, knows their business well, shows an outstanding product, pays attention to detail, answers any question you ask, they come across as assertive, is very personable, is very approachable, and they have a good demeanor, they are friendly, their focus is letting you be the boss, shares thoughts but lets the bride make the final decision, shares things, explains things and educates the bride, is patient, works with a smile and is enthusiastic, has received proper training and participates in continuing education. Is out to make your wedding perfect is wedding couple focused. Score 10 points if they are all mentioned above and come across as an outstanding vendor, less points for every flaw they have, 1 point if they come across very bad. Some of the evaluation is from people that have worked with them or seen this person work, look through their brochures or see a video or get a tape of them or their work in action. Better yet see their work or their action live.

3-Communication Skills
The communication skills is all about the interface you have with the vendor. When you need to contact the vendor to tell them something, you can reach them. Also should something come up, the vendor will contact you right away. The vendor also educates you on their product and can explain things in a matter that you fully understand. 10 points if they are outstanding at communicating, 1 point if they are poor or somewhere in the middle. Give them a higher number if pretty good at communicating, a lower number if they aren't a good communicator. Get this score from prior clients.

4-Experience of Vendor
How many years has the vendor been in business, 10 points for 10 or more years working, 9 points for 9 years, 8 points for 8 years, 7 points for 7 years, 6 points for 6 years, 5 points for 5 years, 4 points for 4 years, 3 points for 3 years, 2 points for 2 years, 1 point for 1 year or less.

5-Charm Factor
If this is an officiant how is their oratory skills? Do they inspire and an outstanding speaker? If they are an emcee? Do they get the reception hopping and people dancing, making sure all are having a good time? If it's other wedding vendors are they good conversationalists with your wedding guests. Do they represent the bride well and leave a good impression? Are they authorative when they need to be and always act in a professional matter, are upbeat, work with a smile, never show a temper around your wedding guests? Score 10 points if all of the above, score 1 if a disaster as a wedding vendor, or somewhere in between higher score with some good attributes, a lower score if many attributes are lacking.

6-Knowledge
Do they produce an outstanding product and are they very knowledgeable of their product and very knowledgeable of their profession. Are they well trained and continuing to educate themselves. If they seem expert at what they are doing and/or produce a superior product score them a 10, if they seem clueless score them a 1. If somewhere in between score them a higher point value if they are pretty good and a lower number if they are so-so.

7-Comfortable To Work With
This factor is in reality if the person has your personality type. Some people are go getters and have a strong personality and some people are analyzers and give things a lot of thought and some people just want the facts and want to be told. To study personality types you might want to consult the Myers-Briggs study or visit the www.personalitypage.com . If you are working with somebody you are really comfortable with and somebody that could be your best friend give them a score of 10, if you find someone you can't work with, your personalities clash give them a score of 1. If they are pretty comfortable to work with, give them a higher score or if they are just tolerable to work with give them a lower score.

8-Quality of Product
In this factor it's all about the product, is the final product breathtaking or outstanding, disregarding the person. Is the wedding cake's stunning and delicious, is the music simply the best, the food absolutely delicious, the flowers and decorations are the best, the photographers and videographers product is simply unbelievable and captures the moment, the officiates sermon is inspiring, the calligraphers invitations are collectibles. Score 10 for a product that can't be beat, score a 1 if the product is dreadful, a higher score if the product is pretty good, a lower score if the product is not up to snuff.

9-Time Business in Operation
How many years has the business been in operation, not the vendor,10 points for 10 or more years, 9 points for 9 years, 8 points for 8 years, 7 points for 7 years, 6 points for 6 years, 5 points for 5 years, 4 points for 4 years, 3 points for 3 years, 2 points for 2 years, 1 point for 1 year or less.

10-How Many Weddings
Some wedding vendors work full time for weddings and some part time. Give a point for every 10 weddings performed. 10 points for more than 100 wedding performed, score 9 points for 81-100 weddings, 8 points for 71-80 weddings, 7 points for 61-70 weddings, 6 points for 51-60 weddings, 5 points for 41-50 weddings, 4 points for 31-40 weddings, 3 points for 21-30 weddings, 2 points for 11-20 weddings, 1 point for 0-10 weddings.

11-Dresses & Grooms Well
How a professional wedding vendor is dressed and groomed comes back as a reflection of the bride to wedding guests at her wedding. At the wedding itself, all vendors should be sharply dressed, the men in suits, the women in eye appealing dresses or pant suits and nice appealing shoes, not excessive jewelry. In interview meetings, vendors  should be professionally attired. If it's a beach wedding, fashionable clothing such as Hawaiian shirts. The hair should be in place and for the ladies wearing the appropriate makeup. Score 10 for a very sharp dresser and groomer, score 1 for wearing a t-shirt or shirt tale out or out of fashion dresser. Score higher somewhere in between for a pretty good dresser or a lower score for a kind of sloppy or not so fashionable dresser.

12-Website
The website often correlates often on how well the business is doing. A great website greets the visitor with a good first impression and pops up on the screen pretty fast. The website is easy to navigate around, has good content, is up to date, shows some good photos or videos and possibly uses something like youtube, has a little information on the history of the business and a little write-up about the staff, has a picture of the business and shows a map on how to get to the business if they have a studio and has all the contact information, name of business, address of business, phone number, person to contact, their email, and where you might find more about the business using blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. If an outstanding website score 10 points, if a very ugly website score 1 point or if half good and half bad, score somewhere in between. If a business has no website score them 3 points, some businesses choose to advertise through other vendors.

13-Alexa Reading
Take note of the website address or URL of the website. Go to www.alexa.com and you will see a search bar to input a website address or URL into and then hit the green search bar button to the right, and you should get back an alexa traffic rank. The lower the number, the higher the ranking, it shows how popular the website is. If the ranking is below 2 million score 10 points, 9 points 2-3 million, 8 points 3-4 million, 7 points 4-5 million, 6 points, 5-6 million, 5 points 6-7 million, 4 points, 7-8 million, 3 points 8-9 million, 2 points, 9-10 million, 1 point if greater than a 10 million alexa traffic rank, also 1 point if no alexa reading comes up.

14-References

Hopefully the vendor can give you 3 references, you should try to interview at least 2 of the references. You should ask each reference contact 3 questions, how would you rate them 1-10. 10 being outstanding 1 very poor. How well did the vendor perform and did they provide good service(1-10)? Was the vendor very reliable(1-10)? How was the communication between the vendor and yourself(1-10)? Input the average score. If you aren't provided any references, give them the benefit of the doubt of scoring them a 1 and give them a score of 3.

15-Price
Start with your targeted budget and then obtain the price they quoted you. If the price is not higher than your budget score 10 points, 9 points if not greater than 2% of your budget, 8 points if not greater than 4% of your budget, 7 points if not greater than 6% of your budget, 6 points, if not greater than 8% of your budget, 5 points, if not greater than 10% of your budget, 4 points if not greater than 12 % of your budget, 3 points if not greater than 14% of your budget, 2 points if not greater than 16% of your budget, 1 point if the venue price is greater than 16% of your budget. For a breakdown, if your targeted budget was $10,000, if the venue price was $10,000 or below 10 points, 9 points for 10,000 to $10,200, 8 points for $10,200 - $10,400, 7 points for $10,400 - $10,600, 6 points for $10,600 to $10,800, 5 points for $10,800 - $11,000, 4 points for $11,000 - $11,200, 3 points for $11,200 - $11,400, 2 points for $11,400 - $11,600, and 1 point for greater than $11,600.

Now accumulate all the scores for each vendor and the one with the highest wedding vendor score is what an evaluation of the vendors recommends. This is just a guide, it's really up to you to decide.

Always tip your wedding vendors even if you weren't real happy with their product or performance. Always be prompt for all your appointments and always be polite. If an issue should ever arise, confront the issue in private, never in public. Once you have chosen a wedding vendor and right after you book with a wedding vendor let the other wedding vendors know you booked with another, so the pending slot opens up for someone else. If a wedding vendor asks why you are going with another, stress the positive of the vendor you have chosen, don't bring up a negative about a business unless the vendor has a flaw that needs to be worked.

Hope this little guide helps you make a right decision on what venue and vendor to decide on for your wedding. Have a wonderful wedding!

See you on the other side!

Gather Pictures to Create Inspiration for your Wedding

Once your engagement period is over and you have your bridal party chosen, it's time to bring thoughts together and there is no better way of doing that than gathering pictures. Weddings have a lot of components to them and to have the best wedding ever all the components must fit together.

At first planning your wedding seems like a daunting task and may seem overwhelming but the key is to look at all the components individually and formulate ideas as you plan your wedding. First question to ask yourself, which you have to check out with your fiance and family, what size of wedding is it going to be, large, medium, or small?

When you start planning your wedding, you should start with a clean palette, keep an open mind. Size and budget decisions should go on the back burner. You are starting out with a wish list. Start by reading bridal magazines and looking at websites on your computer, iphone, and ipad. Should you see anything that captures your fancy either cut out the picture, save the picture on a wedding vendor album, or print out the picture. All pictures you gather should be placed into the proper wedding category, (for example, wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, caterer, etc.). There are many wedding album software packages out there, Picasa Google and Flickr Yahoo are free. You might check out others.

Also in your gathering of ideas, you might spend a day traveling around town with your fiance, bridesmaid, sister, or special friend to check out wedding venues and wedding vendors and taking some pictures, pictures for your idea collection. You might check out a town landmark, visit churches, reception places, wedding boutiques, wedding cake bakeries, caterers, and florists, make sure you don't talk weddings yet, you are just gathering ideas.

All pictures should either go into a wedding vendor album or be placed in large zip lock baggies. You will want to label each zip lock baggie for each wedding category you plan to collect. Later on when you create a wedding planner, your planner should have a section for each wedding category and to secure each baggie to the appropriate section secure each bag to the appropriate section by ribbon, yarn, string, tape, or staples whatever works best for you.

Some brides have a strong idea of how they want to plan their wedding and some brides have no idea of what they want for their wedding. Regardless of whether you plan on using a wedding planner for your wedding or not it is helpful to have ideas of how you want your wedding to be. If you have no idea of how you want your wedding to be, you may check with your fiance, family, and friends and likely they will be more than happy to help you out. One afternoon or evening invite all that wants to help you out and have a bridal mood party to lay out ideas for your wedding.

The bridal mood party can be at the bride's house or at a bridal party member's house that has access to a computer. A good idea is to have one of the member's bring along dessert, and have a special drink, either a latte, cappaccino, espresso, flavored tea, or a favorite alcoholic drink (if all are of age and drink only socially).

The mood session involves identifying ideas for each wedding category. The session should start out at coming up with a color scheme and.or a wedding theme and then continuing through a bunch of wedding categories, setting aside looks that are potential possibilities for the wedding. Don't worry, as you look through pictures and meeting with wedding vendors, your color scheme or wedding theme may change as you come up with ideas that look more beautiful. The pictures you capture is to serve as a guide to show your wedding vendor what color scheme and wedding theme and other ideas that you are looking for. Please note, when you are collecting pictures, there are times you may like the look or design but may not like the color, keep copious notes on what you are looking for.

The following are a bunch of wedding related websites, many filled with ideas and pictures. Some of them offer items for sale, don't get caught up in ordering anything yet, just get caught up in looking for ideas. Order the things you decide on, at the appropriate time, after meetings with wedding vendors they may offer suggestions that may alter some of your decisions. Check out some of these websites for inspiration!

Color Theme and Wedding Theme Websites
www.brideorama.com
www.projectwedding.com
www.weddingideasmag.com
www.weddingnwedding.com
www.yourweddingcompany.com

Wedding Dress Websites
www.bridalguide.com
www.brides.com
www.bridesclub.com
www.contemporarybridemagazine.com
www.elegantweddingmagazine.com
www.instyleweddings.com
www.southernbride.com
www.weddingstylemagazine.com

Bridesmaid Dresses Websites
www.billlevkoff.com
www.latterdaybride.com
www.lovelybride.com
www.uniquebridalandboutique.com

Groomsmen Tuxedos Websites
www.bscenemag.com
www.formalwearmagazine.com

Bridal Accessories Websites
www.bombayjewelry.com
www.celebritybrideguide.com
www.coloriffics.com
www.glamour.com
www.looneymaiden.com
www.modelbride.com
www.wedding-splendor.com

Flower Girl Dresses Websites
www.flowergirldressforless.com
www.onlineflowergirldresses.com

Wedding Flowers Websites
www.callamagazine.com
www.celebrationsflowers.com
www.perfect-wedding-day.com
www.wedding-flowers-and-reception-ideas.com
www.weddingflowersgallery.com

Wedding Centerpiece Ideas Websites
www.decorativewatercrystals.com
www.hawaiianwedding.net
www.rachaelraymag.com
www.surroundings.com
www.towervase.com
www.weddingflowersgallery.com

Wedding Decoration Websites
www.aperfectcelebration.com
www.bbweddingrentals.com
www.bestweddingrentals.com
www.orlandodjandlighting.com
www.weddingdecor.com
www.weddingdecoratorblog.com

Wedding Table Place Settings Websites
www.bellapictures.com/blogs/tags/wedding-table-settings
www.charlottegeary.com/wedding-ideas/table-settings.html
www.replacements.com
www.wedding-tabledecorations.com

Wedding Ceremony Decorations Websites
www.churchbows.com
www.churchsupplywarehouse.com
www.kremp.com
www.rentedelegance.com
www.weddingbokay.com

Wedding Entree Ideas Websites
www.bonappetit.com
www.charlottegeary.com
www.epicurious.com
www.food.com
www.gourmet.com
www.ifood.tv

Hor s'doeuvres and Appetizer Ideas Websites
www.fotosearch.com/photo-images/hors-d-oeuvres.html
www.gourmetfoodstore.com
www.stylemepretty.com
www.what4eats.com

Wedding Cake Websites
www.cakepicturegallery.com
www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com
www.weddingcakecreations.com
www.wilton.com/wedding
www.yourweddingcompany.com

Wedding Desserts Websites
www.extraordinarydesserts.com
www.joyofbaking.com
www.pastrysampler.com
www.rollingpinproductions.com
www.sweettoothcakes.net
www.tgcf.com
www.weddingsalon.com

Candy Bar Buffet Websites
www.candyfavorites.com
www.classiccandybuffet.com
www.oceventservices.com
www.sevenweddings.wordpress.com

Wedding Hairstyle Websites
www.beautifulhairstyles.com
www.elle.com
www.hairstyles.free-beauty-tips.com
www.hairstyles123.com
www.weddinghair.com

Wedding Day Makeup Websites
www.covergirl.com
www.maybelline.com
www.realbeauty.com
www.weddingmakeup.com
www.youtube.com/user/kandeejohnson
www.youtube.com/user/MakeupByTiffanyD

Wedding Invitations Websites
www.invitationsbydawn.com
www.photoannouncementsweddinginvitations.com
www.photocardchef.com
www.tkgdesigns.com
www.weddingpaperdivas.com

Bridal Registries Websites
www.bedbathandbeyond.com/wedding-gifts
www.crateandbarrel.com
www.heartandsongbride.com
www.housebeautiful.com
www.macys.com/bridalregistry
www.potterybarn.com
www.williams-sonoma.com

Wedding Favors Websites
www.beau-coup.com
www.do-it-yourself-weddings.com
www.favorfavor.com
www.myweddingfavors.com
www.unique-wedding-favor-ideas.com

Wedding Tent Decoration Websites
www.alexanderpartyrentals.com
www.colonialevent.com
www.rentatentandparty.com
www.stoneblossom.com/tents.html
www.variations.net

Destination and Honeymoon Ideas Websites
www.bridalguide.com
www.creativehoneymoonideas.info
www.destinationweddings.com
www.fivestaralliance.com
www.honeymoonersreviewguide.com
www.weddinghoneymoon.org


If you don't find an idea for a wedding category you like. There are other places about this website that show other wedding vendors. You can also go to your local bookstore or library and look for magazines or you can  always going back to the internet, iphone, and ipad and to find other wedding vendor websites.

When you are all done and collect all your pictures. Show them to your wedding vendor to share with them what you are looking for. Many brides will create an inspiration board, also called a mood board. An example of an inspiration board is at the top of this post. Many brides will create a grid they want for their wedding and place their inspiration board either in the back of their wedding album or use the photos they have gathered to generate their ideas, as decorations in their wedding album to make it look more beautiful.

Once you have developed strong ideas of what you are looking for, share your thoughts with your fiance and family and gain feedback from them. So make wedding planning fun and organize yourself and use pictures to tell your story.

See you on the other side!

Tips On Booking Your Honeymoon Yourself

For many wedding couples, the honeymoon has to be perfect, for that particular reason, it's safer to use a travel bureau. Once you decide or if you need help deciding on a honeymoon destination, seek out a certified travel agent for the type of honeymoon destination that you desire. A certified agent has been to the honeymoon location themselves and has first hand knowledge of the honeymoon location and can answer many questions about the location you might have. Plus, the certified agent has special relationships with travel suppliers and can negotiate deals or get special discounts for car rentals, parking, restaurants, and offer advice on what taxi services to hail.

Now, should you decide to book the honeymoon yourself, the rest of this post is for you. For international locations this should start your search and find and book your hotel 4-5 months before your honeymoon, if it's a domestic location you should first book 3-4 months before your honeymoon. The exception to this rule, if you are looking to book at a place during their local holiday, you may need to book the location more than a year in advance.

When you start your search, the best time to search for accommodations for your honeymoon is beginning on the early afternoon of a Tuesday through early evening on a Thursday. The reason is, the records for the hotel industry gets updated during this time with new records with discounts being offered and many of these offers are shown no more after late in the day on Thursday. Not only is this the best time to search it's also the best time to order and book tickets.

The first place to look for your honeymoon is by searching a website called www.kayak.com , this website was bought out from a company called Sidestep that offered this searching capability. What this website does is it looks first at the location you put in and looks at hundreds of website accommodations companies and shows you the one with the best deal.  Whatever honeymoon location that you get back the information on, you then should investigate the location further by looking at the hotel, to see where it's located, is it in a good location and research websites that tell you about the area by using the "Lonely Planet", "Virtual Tourist", and "My Travel Guide. If you see what you like, call the hotel and tell them about the deal you have pending off the website, ask them if they offer any better deals. Please note, it's sometimes better to get the deal directly through the hotel, because the hotel saves the better room locations themselves and may not put the better room locations online. If the hotel can offer you a better deal, go for it, if not then book the deal you saw online at kayak.

Another way you can search for a deal is take a location you are interested in and go down the list of online hotel booking websites and plug every one in. Whichever online hotel website gives you the best deal, then note which website that gave you a quote, and do the same as before, do some further research of that location, and then call the hotel directly, tell them you have a quote online and ask them if they can offer you a better deal and if they can take it and if not go back to the site that had given you the best price quote and book the hotel online.

Top Websites for Booking Hotels Online 


www.agoda.com
www.asiarooms.com
www.bedandbreakfast.com
www.booking.com
www.bookit.com
www.expedia.com
www.hotelbook.com
www.hotel.club.com
www.hotelplanner.com
www.hotelreservation.com
www.hotelrooms365.com
www.hotels.com
www.hotelscombined.com
www.hotelscomparison.com
www.hotelsonline.com
www.hotwire.com
www.igougo.com
www.orbitz.com
www.priceline.com
www.travelguru.com
www.travelocity.com
www.travelpost.com
www.travelzoo.com
www.tripadvisor.com
www.undercovertourist.com
www.venere.com

A third way you may consider to finding a hotel or resort for your honeymoon is by first identifying a nice area of hotels and then go to Google Earth or Google Maps and look for hotels in the map that displays in an area you are interested in. Often here you will find hotels in an area that don't use hotel online websites. Because they don't pay a fee out for the use of online hotel booking websites, with this savings these hotels are able to offer hotel prices at a cheaper rate. Often these hotels are pretty good because of word of mouth, have a good location and which result in many walk-ins. They must be doing something right if they aren't advertising online. Look up and call these hotels directly to see if they can give you a great deal.

Some items to note when booking online, you sometimes don't get a great room at a particular hotel, the room may have older furniture, be in a busy location, does't have a view, next to vending machines, etc. You can try to get a better room by asking the front-desk manager, but beware sometimes you may not get a cooperative hotel staff when you order a room because you ordered it at bottom dollar and you may or may not get a bit of a refund for a room that looks different online then what you saw and ordered from an online website, you might try, but just be aware and don't let the situation ruin your honeymoon.

Be sure to write everything down about your deal. What room you have reserved, make copious notes about the details of your reservation and place all the notes in your honeymoon folder and keep the information organized neatly and bring it along when you check in. With whom did you talk to, the date and time you talked to this person, the phone number you called, the price you were quoted and paid, and any other details about the reservation such as the ticket and/or order number and have the information with you.

Other things to consider, when you call the hotel, ask whether the hotel is running any promotions or packages. This promotion could be a hotel membership promotion, frequent flyer, weekend promotion or something other. Sometimes a hotel will offer what is called a "fallback" rate for travelers who resist the quote rate, give a lower rate to keep your business. Hotels often offer promotions off of their website, provide discount coupons for restaurants and other services such as spas either in the hotel or nearby locations.

Once you have a room booked, keep checking weekly back regularly with the hotel websites to see if there are any better deals than the one that you have booked. If a deal comes along that is significantly better, cancel the booking you originally had and book the better deal, but be careful, some deals have perks such as free parking and restaurant coupons and others don't, include the perks in the comparisons.

Some other tidbits about hotels, seek out a concierge if the hotel has one. Find out areas to avoid, learn a few important phrases in their native language such as "Help", "Where can we find some food" and "Where can we find a bathroom, "Where is the nearest gas station? Learn a little about local customs. Don't become a target by wearing expensive jewelry or all american clothing. Your goal is to act like a local, give the impression that you are sales person and knows your way around and someone not to mess with, don't look at maps in public. Never carry lots of cash, keep important documents with you, and use a money belt and don't carry a purse. Always know where the fire exit is whatever your location is and don't leave a sign to "make up this room" which may alert thieves about your abscense.

If you want to go more high class for your honeymoon you could join a club. Private sale sites like www.sniqueaway.com , www.jetsetter.com , and www.tablethotels.com/privatesale offer exclusive deals on hotels and resorts, but you must be a member to access them and most of the sales they have don't last very long, these sites give you deep discounts on upscale properties.

As for airline tickets. Some of the hotel online booking systems include airline booking. Research all airlines going to your destination, get a quote from all airlines and then grab the best deal. Some things to look out for, fares are higher during a destinations busy season and lower during the slow season. Fares are higher to the Caribbean in the winter and higher to Europe in the summer season. Book in advance at least 3 months prior, be flexible during the time of day you travel, best rates are in the wee hours such as a red eye flight late at night or the first flight out in the morning. Lunch time and dinner time tend to be lower rate times too. Also you save money by using local airports over International airports because of airport taxes and capacity. Sometimes booking package deals, book hotels, airlines, and auto rental all together can provide substantial savings. Again check www.kayak.com for the best flight out first and also check out the website of your favorite airline and look for promotions offered by that airline.

Top Websites for Booking Airline Flights Online

www.airfare.com
www.airgorilla.com
www.airvalue.com
www.bookingbuddy.com
www.bravofly.com
www.cheapairlinetickets.net
www.cheapflights.com
www.cheapoair.com
www.cheaptickets.com
www.dirtcheapairlineticket.org
www.farebuzz.com
www.farecompare.com
www.flightnetwork.com
www.fly4less.com
www.globester.com
www.hotfares.com
www.lowfares.com
www.onetravel.com
www.orbitz.com
www.shermantravel.com
www.travelocity.com
www.whatscheaper.com
www.yapta.com

When booking an airline ticket, order a ticket for one and then try to get your partner or your group the same rate as the one. If tickets are ordered for a group the most expensive ticket is applied to all the tickets ordered, all passengers are charged the same regardless. Ordering tickets individually and then if the next ticket is higher, ask to get the ticket lower. Best times to order airline tickets is after 3 p.m., cheapest day is Wednesday, followed by Tuesday then Saturday. Most expensive days to order airline tickets is Friday and Sunday. Don't order your airline tickets too early, 4-5 months in advance Internationally, and 3-4 month Domestically. It's the same deal as hotels, check each week your online websites and airports to see if they offer better deals than you have booked.

As for car rentals often there are discount codes or coupons. One place that offers discounts for autos for USA domestic cities is called www.dealbuzz.com. Wherever your hotel discount location is put that city's name and the words "rental car discount codes" or "coupons" in Google to see if you can find any discount savings. Check for auto savings discounts at destination hotels.

Other tidbits for rental car savings. The rental rates of cars tend to correlate with airline rates for a destination location. Always book well in advance. A weekly rate tends to be cheaper rate than a daily rate. Book the size of the car you need. Fill up your tank before returning your rental, weekends tend to be cheaper than during the week, return the car the same time of day as your pick up. Compare rates of all your auto rental companies to get the best deal. Always get a booking number and print out your email copy of your booking confirmation and keep that information in your honeymoon folder. Check your local auto insurance company to see what insurance coverage they would recommend.

Websites of National Auto Rental Companies

www.alamo.com
www.autoeurope.com
www.avis.com
www.budget.com
www.dollar.com
www.enterprise.com
www.eurocar.com
www.hertz.com
www.nationalcar.com
www.thrifty.com

Be careful, some local companies are excellent while others are not. If you should rent an auto from a local company, check out the company if you can, put the name of the company in Google and check if there are complaints about them and does the better business bureau have information on them. Same with taxis in an area, see what taxi companies your hotel recommends, some sheister rental companies are known to drive you thirty miles when your destination is only a mile away and charge you for a bundle of cash. Also check out if your hotel has shuttle service.

Lastly, if you plan on dining a bit at your honeymoon destination look for coupon savings. Some places offer entertainment books for $25 and a bigger for $50 and provide many coupons on cost savings. Also check out joining dining clubs such as www.opentable.com and www.table-booking.com . Also check out restaurant savings from websites of area hotels where you are staying, also look for restaurant coupons of the city where you are staying and even in some destinations you might stop in the Chamber of Commerce and they might leave you with a package of local coupons. Many upscale restaurants take American Express credit cards to cover meals and the ones that do have a statement by their front door or cash register.

Last things to mention, you can also look for savings on a cruise line by checking out www.cruisecompete.com . There are also clubs where you can exchange staying at each others homes, check out www.homeaway.com and www.homeexchange.com . There is also vacation timeshare where you can rent a home. Also in this day and age, most vacation locations offer ATMs that exchange your currency and you can always check out the currency exchange rate at a website called www.xe.com .

So if you should decide to book your own honeymoon, I hope I have left you with enough information that leaves you with substantial savings and once you have booked keep checking often for better deals. Use these tactics and not only can you save on your honeymoon, you can save lots of money which allows you to go on many more vacations.

See you on the other side!

Have Yourself a 3D Wedding

3D Weddings are here! Be a part of history! The first 3D wedding was shot in Australia by a top cinemaphotographer named Abraham Joffe in 2010. There are a few videographers around the U.S.A. that offer video 3D weddings. The top companies that advertise 3D weddings are "By Chance Productions" based in Denver, Colorado, "Video Keepsakes" based in Los Angeles, California, and a third called "3D Weddings" based in Ashville, North Carolina.

Over the next few years, you can expect to see many videographers all across the nation start to shoot 3D weddings. Just about to hit the market are special 3DTV cameras and 3D camcorders that will much more affordable than offered in the past. This new equipment is expected to be offered by Sony, Samsung, and Hitachi.

The pesky red and green glasses that hurt your eyes, will be replaced by progressive 3D active glasses. 3D vision soon won't be just for Hollywood anymore, 3D Cameras and 3D Camcorders will soon be available. You will be able to see 3D pictures and 3D movies in certain Laptops, IPhones, Tablets, and special HD3D Televisions. To view in 3D, you have to be sure the device is set to operate in 3D and to see the effect you need to wear the glasses.

Just imagine, in many years out, the bride and groom can share their movies with their kids and grandkids. They can relive the wedding day and with 3D you really share the experience with their family having them relive the moment almost as they were there in person themselves. Your kids will meet your grandparents and to see how they looked and to experience their personality. The kids would experience the looks and personalities of all who came to the wedding, the aunts, the uncles, and special friends of the parents, how people they know as their parent's friends, how they were as young people, teenagers, and kids. Photos and videos just don't give the feel and look as 3D does, 3D brings the feel back to the time just as a time machine would, presenting how it really was.

With the new 3D cameras and camcorders coming out, you can purchase this 3D equipment to shoot pictures of the wedding yourself. But to shoot the wedding really well, it will probably be best to get a professional team to shoot the wedding. To get the best shoots you will need a wide assortments of sophisticated equipment, almost like a live television taping. It is best to have a number of cameras and audio equipment strategically placed in a number of locations and having a person in a booth switching scenes from one camera to another, from a close up to the brides face, transitioning and panning to the wedding guests and switching back to the bride's dress and the groom's tuxedo. The best effect is to shoot the wedding like a movie, it will take an experienced crew to shoot your wedding well.

Also when this 3D equipment becomes available you can take photos and create a 3D slide show, also generated with these 3D special cameras. The 3D slideshows are best presented using a 3DHD television situated at a pre-wedding cocktail hour near the entrance before the wedding reception. The most effective slideshows transitions photos using the Ken-Burns effect, with about 4-5 seconds between each photo with the slide presentation lasting no more than 15 minutes, dramatic romantic music should be used in the slide show too, maybe a musical selection for the bride, a musical selection for the groom and another selection when the two met and came together. Also needed for the slideshow are about a dozen 3D glasses to borrow to handout to watch the slideshow.

Another product to expect in the coming years is a 3D photo booth. There is expected to be a few different types of photobooths. One type will take simple pictures just as todays photobooths do. Next to the photobooth you can have zany props, hats, glasses, jewelry, small white boards, picture frames, etc. A 3D picture can be generated, one for the wedding guest and one for the 3D wedding album. Another type of booth will be shot using a 3D Camcorder. Each wedding guest will come into the booth and make a few statements to offer their best wishes and to leave their predictions, how their life will be in 25 years and how many kids they will have.

In the not too distant future you will start to see hologram technology take hold. If you remember back when you watched Star Wars, and R2D2 flashing out a hologram of Princess Leia to a startled Luke Skywalker and now that technology is no longer science fiction. Photobooths at weddings will pretty much work the same, with this technology 3D glasses will no longer be needed.

As for what's to come, the holograms will soon be replaced by holivision. A special camera will be situated maybe 20 feet above the wedding ceremony and wedding reception. This camera will capture in 3D the whole of the wedding day, from the walking down the aisle of father and bride, capturing in 3D the whole wedding ceremony. Also the whole wedding reception. The beautiful decorations will be captured along with the whole reception from the grand entrance, to the receiving line, to the dinner, to the speeches and toasts, to the cutting of the cake, to the first dance. Everything at the event will be captured in 3D, and everybody and everything will be captured. Fair warning though to your wedding guests, everything will be captured for many future generations to see, so you better behave yourself.

Now how will you view holivision. At first when this technology becomes available, the places that show holivision will be special stadium type rooms that are set up in movie theatres, sports bars, and community clubs. These rooms will kind of be set up like a hockey arena, but with only a handful of rows, with half moon table booths set up around it overlooking an open space. From these booth locations you can make an arrangements to experience your wedding all over again many years later, the holivision projected to the open space. You will see both your wedding ceremony and wedding reception in 3D. These booths are like half movie theatre, half restaurant. The best occasions to reserve and take your current family to see your wedding day are at anniversaries and family reunions.

A little bit more about these stadium rooms, a wedding will be only one experience. These rooms will show sporting events live such as football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, golf, auto racing, and whatever sport is popular to see. Also at these rooms you can watch concerts, conventions, and 3D holivision movies.
Everything you see and even the sound you will feel as if you are at the event yourself. The tables at these stadium rooms will be geared with tablets built into the tables allowing sandwiches, burgers, hors d'oeuvres and house specialties to be ordered and provided by a kitchen nearby with foods delivered by waitresses. Also built into these tables will be bottoms up style drink machines that can provide beer, alcohol, smoothies, energy drinks and sodas. A company that came out with bottom up technology is a company called Grinon Industries, www.grinonindustries.com . Check out how the technology works.

The technology that is used to create holograms and holivision is basically laser light. The laser light is shot at images at two different angles and uses projector equipment to again shoot laser light out and when the laser light intersects an image develops creating an image that appears like a true image but the image deceives you, the image isn't really there, if you put your hand through the image, light just shows up on your hand, you can put your hand through the laser light. A couple of company that can explain this hologram technology a little more is a company called Provision 3D Media, www.provision.tv and a another company called www.laser-magic.com .

So coming to a theatre soon near you is your own wedding. Imagine being able to share your wedding with your own future generations, it is going to be fantastic. Enjoy watching your own wedding in 3D!

See you on the other side!

Consider an Outdoor Wedding Using a Wedding Tent

You may consider having an outdoor wedding.  A party rental store can cover most of your needs. Outdoor weddings have become very popular in recent years and the thing that has allowed outdoor weddings to flourish is the use of a wedding tent.  The
wedding tent offers a clean palette for you to create the precise look you imagine for your wedding, unlike many other reception halls that impose many restrictions. You can decorate your wedding tent with tables and chairs as you would normally decorate a wedding reception location.

It use to be, couples stayed away from outdoor weddings, there was always a chance of inclement weather that could ruin the wedding day. Today, wedding tents are built weather proof. Your guests will appreciate the climate control a wedding tent can provide. If the weather is beautiful you can leave open strategic walls open to catch the natural outdoors.  If the weather is an issue then you want plenty of sidewalls that will warm or cool the inside tent by 10 to 15 degrees.  Depending on the weather you may consider strategically placed heaters, air conditioners, or misting devices.  With the outdoor weddings, the draw is the setting.  You want to be sure the location can handle older people, possibly handicapped people, and make sure there are no danger hazards such as water hazards for young children who like to snoop around.

If you're having a garden wedding, you've probably got a gorgeous spot all picked out that will be perfect for a wedding tent. Backyards, open meadows, city parks, rustic farms, lots overlooking lakes, rivers, and beaches and botanical gardens are all wonderful spots for set up. Regardless of the spot you place your tent, make sure that the area is free of sprinklers, underground power lines, has no holes for someone to accidently step into or have tree limbs or branches ready to fall. and other hazards which might cause problems with the tent's location. Also, be sure to choose a spot that is safe from encounters with dangerous animals or problems with poison ivy or bugs.

If you're contracting with a company for a wedding tent, you'll most likely need to sign an agreement and make a deposit about six months prior to your wedding. Many wedding tent suppliers can even help you with finding a location, if you don't have one already picked out, and most are also able to provide different styles of heaters, air conditioners, and misting fans to keep your guests warm, cozy or cool, as the case might be. Be aware that some wedding tent companies have clauses in their contracts stating that the deposit is nonrefundable if you opt out of the contract within two weeks of the wedding - this is a good thing to inquire about before you put your name to a contract.

Wedding tents come in all shapes and sizes - what will be the best fit for your wedding? Again, your supplier will be the person with which to speak! Most wedding tent providers have numerous styles of tents that are highly customizable based upon the number of guests, location, and your specific needs. Cathedral-style tents are very popular, as are tents with clear plastic windows, which allow natural light to enter. Some couples opt for a smaller second tent for the cooking, food preparation and food storage. They may also set up an open barbecue to the back entrance of their tent.


Tent Sizes to Consider for Outdoor Weddings

                          Square Feet                           3/4 Sections
Weddings For      Needed for Tent                Needed for Dance Floor
50 People                 20' x 30'                                  9 x 12
100 People              30' x 50'                                12 x 15
150 People               40' x 60'                                12 x 18
200 People               40' x 80'                                15 x 20
300 People               40' x 120'                               20 x 24


Generally, tents must be big enough to encompass all the basics a wedding reception requires - guest tables and seating, dance floor, DJ booth, bar, cake table, gift table, and hors d'oeuvre station. Not sure how big to make your dance floor? Take your number of guests and divide by four to find out how many people will be dancing at any given time. Then, take that number and multiply by ten to find the number of square feet your dance floor will need to be!

In the United States, white is by far the most popular choice for a wedding tent's color, suggestive of airy elegance that matches well with the classic white bridal gown. However, many other colorful choices are available, you can decorate the wedding tent to your color scheme or decorate using a red and gold tent which symbolizes power, love, and strength, while a multicolored canopy contributes to the feelings of festivity, diversity, and good times - everyone is happier under a rainbow-colored tent!

Also don't forget to decorate your wedding tent as you would a reception hall with colored linen for the tables and matching colored chair coverings used for the chairs. You can really decorate the tables with centerpieces and with all the table trimmings. You can even decorate the ceiling with elegant fabric linings and lanterns and Christmas lights along with updraft floodlights according to your color scheme to give your tent a magical glow. Some tents have poles and some tents do not. If you have poles in your tent, wrap flowers (real or silk) or leaves around the tent poles, or hang baskets of blossoms from the ceiling. Poles can also be wrapped in color schemed fabric, gauze or ribbon all of which contribute to a festive atmosphere.

The flooring can be handled with a number of options.  It can be nothing at all, astro-turf, carpet, sisal, matting, or a hardwood floor.  If there's music you want to consider bringing along a dance floor. Make sure you station the disc jockeys and/or musicians right in front of the dance floor.

You need to be sure you have sufficient time for setup and breakdown.  If the wedding is in your big backyard there is no problem.  But if you are renting a property, you need to insure you can prevent unwanted guests. that you don't get noise interruptions like roaring waves, howling winds, traffic noise, or screaming kids.  You need to account for the moment you control the property, the time it takes to get the tent shipped, to put the tent up and secure it, put in flooring, put in power, set up lighting, bring in all the tables and chairs in, bring in all the linens, decorate it, bring all the wares, and food.  After the event, all the effort to clean up the area and all the steps to clean out and remove the tent.  Make sure there is a microphone and speaker available for announcements.  There is no event more enjoyable than an outdoor wedding.

If you are in a remote area or by a body of water you might consider a getaway as part of the festivities.  Things you might consider, a hot air balloon, a hayride on a wagon or a flatbed truck, a hike through a corn maze, go horseback riding, ride in a horse-drawn carriage, or just put out hammocks to relax in.  If there is a body of water you might include sailing, riding on a ski jet, riding in a motorboat, go yachting, go row boating, go canoeing, go kayaking, or go around in paddle boats.

For outdoor weddings you might consider gaming activities. You might provide horseshoes, croquet, bocce ball, volleyball, badmitten, frisbee, frisbee golf. kickball, ping pong, wiffle ball, basketball, a putting green, a shuffleboard, or have a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt for the young ones. At night there's trivial pursuit, bingo, beer tasting, wine and cheese tasting, or have a poker party.  And don't forget the music. The country weddings have more of a festive atmosphere and guests always have a great time.

There are some great websites out there that can help provide information on rental supplies and include information such as punch recipes, what and how much liquor to buy for the amount of guests, how to arrange tables and chairs, how to set tables, how to fancy fold cloth napkins, and what size tents are needed for the amount of guests.  Some websites to check out are www.alexanderpartyrentals.com and
www.tentmantents.com .

Some other matters that need attention for outdoor weddings, make sure you get a permit, check out music and noise restrictions, make sure there is enough parking and no parking restrictions, check if there is time restrictions.  You might consider a bus for transportation.  Always walk and check out the facility beforehand, understand everything in the contract before signing such as who will be the person to do the delivering and when is the tent and are the supplies going to be delivered and when must it be returned and what is the insurance policy. Also if the tent and supplies going to be at a location overnight can you find someone to stay on the lookout, have a friend or a security guard keep a watch out.

So should you decide on an outdoor or garden wedding at a beautiful location, you can transform your wedding into an extraordinary and cozy elegance and leave an everlasting impression with your wedding guests for which they will long remember.

See you on the other side!

Have Fun with Bridal Text Messaging

It's a whole new world out there. In this day and age about 80% of brides have been exposed to text messaging. There are really two types of text messaging, one called TM which stands for test messaging, the other called IM which stands for instant messaging, also called immediate messaging, which allows for more immediate conversing back and forth. Messaging works on the wireless network which allows parties to send and receive messages back and forth and work on many different mobile or handheld devices such as Blackberry, IPhones, cell phones, PDAs, handys, or pagers. The IM messager is also used in conjunction with online chat, email, blogs, and newsgroup postings.

Text messaging is a means of communication quickly and efficiently. It's a tool that really help brides to communicate rapidly to those involved in the wedding, including her significant other, family, bridal party, and if agreed to, wedding vendors. But before getting heavily involved in texting there etiquette rules one must learn and follow.

Texting must be done the proper way, be mindful that all your communication with people should not be done via texting. There should be plenty of face-to-face and voice-to-voice interaction with people you are communicating with whether it's personal or business. You also must consider the environment you are texting from, you should never ever text while operating a moving vehicle whether it's a car, truck, plane, boat, or bicycle. If you need to text or read text, please pull over and pull far over, don't ever put yourself in a dangerous situation.

Some other things, it's also considered rude to be texting someone when you are having a face-to-face conversation with someone else, it upsets the persons psychy and disrupts the persons train of thought and also makes the person feel you are non important to them. Finish the conversation with the person whom you are talking and you can contact the textor once the conversation is complete. Good times to text, early in the morning when not conversing at the breakfast table, when you have time to pass, in between classes, at a coffee break at work, sitting on a bus or train, or in the waiting room of a medical center, or at a relaxing time in the evening.

Places where you should not text include churches, chapels, classrooms, hospitals, libraries, air planes, golf clubs, gas stations, and movie theatres. At gas stations, there is a small risk of creating static electricity which can cause an explosion, at the movie theatre, movie theatres have rules against texting during the show, as the light emission can annoy other patrons and it disrupts the ambience of you following the movie. If you must send or receive texts at a movie theatre, don't do it at your seat, do it in the lobby. If you are at any of these facilities or even out to dinner with your love, turn off your text messaging device, and before putting the device in your pocket, lock the keypad to avoid making any unwanted calls. And don't flaunt your device in public so as to gain the attention of potential thiefs or robbers.

Texting is great when you are in a place where noise can be an issue places like a noisy cafeteria, or at sports bar or disco, a ballgame, or between speakers when listening to a lecture, or waiting at a noisy bus stop. It is recommended to send text to whom you are sending messages to during that person's waking hours and if you aren't sure that's between the hours from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the evening. Only text at off hours in an emergency. If it's a significant other, don't overdue the texting. Keep the romance going, be careful with joke telling, jokes should entertain and inspire, not upset or put people down. Text messaging a message can easily be construed to mean something else especially when text message are sent in shorthand. It is considered rude to repeated texts even if it's the word "I love you" and never ever put all words in all CAPITALS, which is taken in text world as shouting.

Text messaging is a great tool for brides to interact with their wedding vendor. However, it is not good to text message with initial contact with a wedding vendor. It is best for the meeting to be face-to-face or if distance is an issue voice-to-voice. If you are into text messaging, see if the wedding vendor will agree to share information back and forth via text messaging. It is great to leave a quick message on status with something that has happened with the vendor (i.e., "your flowers from California have just arrived", "the printer just finished with the wedding invitations", "can we meet at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday?", "what's your final wedding guest number count?, etc.)".

It is also a great tool to leave quick notes to about your wedding, especially to your bridal party members. Very often, some of the bridal party members are occupied, and with texting, you leave them a text and you can message gets out to them very quickly. (i.e. "hey gang, meet at my house at 5:00 to pick up the bridesmaid's dresses", "can you guys come over to the house and help me put some wedding favors together?", "rehearsal practice is at the church at 4:00".). It's a great way to get the bridal party communicated with your message and get them organized more quickly as you can leave a message that can be checked at one's convenience whereas a few years back, you either had to hunt somebody down on the telephone and if you left a voice mail on one's phone, if that person were out at a meeting or golf course somewhere it may have taken a while before the message was picked up.

A cell phone is not the only method of sending a text message. You can now send text messages conveniently via the Internet. While there are several free text message services available, Text'em is fast, easy and even allows you to set up a free (optional) account.
Instructions
Steps
1. Step 1
Type "www.textem.net" in your Internet browser.
2. Step 2
Fill in the Recipients Mobile Number box with the 10-digit telephone number of the person you wish to
send a text message to.
3. Step 3
The next line will ask for your email address. This is optional. If you don't enter your email address, the
text message will label the receiver as anonymous.
4. Step 4
Type your message. You will have a limit of 155 characters.
5. Step 5
Enter the security code provided to you.
6. Step 6
Check the box once you have read and understand the Terms of Use.
7. Step 7
Select "Send Message."

Another relatively new phenomena at weddings is the use of firetexting. This is how firetexting works. The disc jockey might have a special screen set up at the wedding. It might be a large screen television or an in air laser light show projected onto a large screen. The wedding guests or even far away family members or friends would be given a special designated number, they could input that number and leave a text message, that text message would be lit up at the wedding venue for all to see. Messages would be rotated with congratulations to the wedding couple. The firetexting can be used for other services too, like leaving messages to others beside the wedding couple, also for polling, and requesting songs of the dj and the dj can leave messages for the audience too, such as what song is being played currently or announcing that the cutting of the cake will be in 10 minutes.

Last, but the most important contact is interacting with your significant other. There is a little art in texting with each other. They say when you are texting with your loved one to stay away from boring. You should never say boring things like "How are you doing?", "What's up?" You should text sporadically have mystery, suspense, and intrigue in your texting. Mix it up somewhat too, be somewhat playful in your texting, have your text go back from serious, playful, serious, show a little ingenuity and personality. Don't text too often and always end on a high note. Sometimes don't end on a bye and sometimes wait for an hour or an hour and a half later before responding back. Make the interface with your love unpredictable and exciting. Always try to have at least one text during the day, so your love hears from you at least once. Once in the morning and once before to bed is best if either of you has a busy schedule. At least the one message keeps the wondering, out of the other one's head.

If you decide to include texting in your relationship, if you live far apart and see each other sporadically before the wedding, try to text a message either once or twice a day. It's hard sometimes, to formulate a meaningful  message for every day, just don't let the other know you got the message here, you just thought of it!

Text Message Ideas for the Day

1. A day may start or end without a message from me, but believe me it won't start or end without me thinking of you..See! I just did. Take care.

2. A person you love is an extension of yourself. Without it, you're not complete so better take care of yourself because I don't want to lose a part of me.

3. A smile is a curve that sets everything straight and wipes the wrinkles away. Hope you receive a lot and share a lot of smiles today. Here's one from me.

4. Ah-- I forgot your name. Can I call you mine? And, in case you forget my name too, call me yours!

5. All mornings are like a painting, you need a little inspiration to get you going, a little smile to brighten it and a message from someone who cares to color your day.

6. An angel asked me a reason why I care for you so much. I told her I care for you so much coz there's no reason not to.

7. Can I say I love you today? If not, can I ask you again tomorrow? And the day after tomorrow? And the day after that? Coz I'll be loving you every single day of my life.

8. Caring for someone is easy but making someone care for you is hard. Now I keep wondering how did you make it so easy for me to care for you.

9. Cell phones can be irritating sometimes. You always have to reload, recharge every now and then. Messages are delayed. But there's one thing I love about it. It connects me to you!

10. Could you do me a favor? Put your left hand over your right shoulder then your right hand to your left shoulder. There! I've just given you a morning hug.

11. Do you know that men and women are angels created with only one wing? And they need to embrace each other to be able to fly... Hope you can find your angel whom you can fly with forever.

12. Do you take me to be your lawfully wedded text mate, in sickness or in health, through metering or not, till low battery do us part?

13. Doctor's advice: eat breakfast regularly, drink plenty of water, take your vitamins, and text me three times a day. Lookin soon for some lovin!

14. Don't say you love me unless you really mean it cause I might do something crazy like really believe it.

15. Every morning has a new beginning, a new blessing, a new hope. It's a perfect day coz it's God's gift. Have a blessed, hopeful perfect day to begin with. Good a.m.

16. Every part of me wants you, maybe because I was made just especially for you!

17. Every time I hear my text tone, I always hope the text is from you. My cell phone may have limited memory space but my heart has unlimited space for someone like you.

18. Everyday is a happy day as long as you text me once a day. I tell you, this is no lie. A text from you always makes my heart beat and leaves me with a beautiful smile.

19. Everyone wants to be the sun that lights up your life. But I'd rather be your moon, so I can shine on you during your darkest hour when your sun isn't around.

20. First time I saw you, I was scared to touch you. First time I touched you, I was scared to kiss you. First time I kissed you, I was scared to love you. But now that I love you, I'm scared to lose you!

21. Great minds contain ideas, solutions and reasons; scientific minds contain formulas, theories and figures; my mind contains only you!

22. I always think of you, but I always fail to know the reason why. Is there something else I should know about you? But there is one thing that I know is true. That life will always be sad without you.

23. I asked God for a rose and He gave me a garden. I asked God for a drop of water and He gave me an ocean. I asked God for an angel and He gave me you!

24. I don't want to say I miss you, though deep inside I do, coz I'm afraid you might see thru and know how much fear I have of losing someone like you.

25. I hate when you smile at me because you make me crazy about you. I hate when you talk to me because you make me run out of words. I hate you when I see you because you make me love you more.

26. I have heard from the phone company, the water company, the electric company, but haven't heard from you. Too bad, it's your company I love the most.

27. I have you! If you hate me, shoot me with an arrow, but please not on the heart coz that's were you are!

28. I may run out of messages to text you. I may run out of jokes to tell you. I may run out of money to buy a special gift for you, but one thing you can always count on, I will never ever run out of space in my heart for you!

29. I used to think that dreams do not come true, but this quickly changed the moment I laid my eyes on you.

30. I used to think that the world is so unfair, that it gave me so many reasons to hate it. But now, how can I hate such a wonderful world that gave me you?

31. I will walk with you side by side for only one condition: hide your wings every time we walk together because the whole world might know that you're my angel!

32. I wish I'd be a tear in your eye to roll down your cheek and end up with your lips but I never wish you'd be a tear in my eye for I would lose you every time I cry.

33. I wish one day you will miss me terribly that no matter how hard you look for me, you won't find me. Why? Because, I want you to miss me the way I'm missing you right now.

34. I woke up just a few hours ago, but then I started to sweat, I just remembered I haven't texted my love yet. Have a pleasant morning!

35. I woke up one day and thought something was missing. So I got up from my bed, grabbed my cell phone and sent you a morning greeting. Good a.m.

36. I woke up today smiling as I recall our friendship because I know that years from now, I will still be waking up smiling for the same reason every morning.

37. Icing can make a cake so sweet, a string can make a balloon fly high, a match can make a candle so bright. I hope that a simple text can make you smile.

38. I'll lend you my shoulder for you to cry on, my ears to listen to, my hand for you to hold, my feet to walk with you, but I can't lend you my heart coz it already belongs to you.

39. I'm afraid to close my eyes coz I might think of you. I'm afraid to open them coz I might see you. I'm afraid to move my lips coz I might speak of you. I'm afraid to listen coz I might hear my heart fall for you.

40. I'm on a mission to get over you, in other words mission impossible.

41. I'm sorry to be smiling every time you're near. I'm sorry my eyes twinkle whenever you're here. I'm sorry that cupid has made his hit. I'm sorry I love you, I can't help it.

42. I've been wondering why you're not texting... Multiple Choice: a. busy b. working c. tired d. want me to miss you.

43. If I could be any letter in the alphabet, I'd choose "V" so I can be next to "U"; if you could be any note, I wish you're "RE" so your always beside "ME"!

44. If I ever could change the alphabet, I would put U and I together!

45. If I had the letters "HRT", I can add "EA" to get a "HEART" or a "U" and get "HURT". But I'd rather choose "U" and get "HURT" than have a "HEART" without "U".

46. If kisses were water, I'd give you the ocean. If hugs were leaves, I'd give you a forest. If love were space, I'd give you a galaxy. If friendship were life, I'd give you mine for free.

47. If love can be avoided by simply closing our eyes, then I wouldn't blink at all for I don't want to let a second pass having fallen out of love with you.

48. If you're feeling lonely and you think there is nobody there to love, support, listen or show they care, just save this message and every time you realize it, it will remind you that a part of me is always there with you.

49. If love is a disease then I'm very ill. But I would not want medicine and won't take any pill. I would instead suffer this illness and be bedridden with joy of knowing you.

50. If only one star would fall every time I miss you, then all the stars in heaven would be gone. Don't wonder if there are no stars tonight! It's your fault coz you made me miss you a lot.

51. If someone would ask me what a beautiful life means, I would lean my head on your shoulder and hold you close to me and answer with a smile: "Like this!"

52. If you were a wound inside my heart, I'd rather leave it there with all the pain locked inside than leave it without a trace of you.

53. If, out of time, I could pick one moment and keep it shining, always new, of all the days that I have lived, I'd pick the moment I first laid eyes on you.

54. It's hard for two people to love each other when they live in two different worlds. But when these two worlds collide and become one, that's what you call you and I.

55. It's hard to say hello because it might be goodbye. It's hard to say I'm okay because sometimes I'm not. But it's easy to say I miss you coz I know that I really do.

56. Life may sometimes be a rough road to walk on where everything seems wrong. But don't give up. Just keep on going coz when you think you might be all alone, look around and you'll find me always walking right beside you.

57. Love can be expressed in many ways. One way I know is to send it across the distance to the person who is reading this.

58. Love is something special, a treasure that is hard to find... To some,love is blind, but for me, it was not true, coz I found my treasure...when I first laid my eyes on you.

59. Love. All my life I have read about it, dreamt of it, waited for it, cried for it, needed it. Now with you, I have found it.

59. My biggest reward is to see you smile, know you are happy, and feel you are loved. I know life is sometimes cruel, but that's why I'm here, to show you that life can be good when somebody cares.

60. Nobody tells fish to swim, birds to fly, cows to moo, dogs to bark - they just do. Just like nobody tells me to love and remember you. I just do!

61. One of the joys in life is waking up each day with thoughts that somewhere, someone cares enough to send a warm morning greeting! Good morning and have a wondeful day!

62. People vanish, people die. People laugh and people cry. Some give up, some will try. Some say hi, while some say bye. Others may forget, but never ever will I. Good morning!

63. Rain and sunshine do not always come together. Night and day never coincide. But you and I, whatever they say, is for me the perfect match. When I dream, I dream of you...looking forward to the day this dream will come true.

64. Raise your right hand, I "state your name" promise to love, honor, cherish and obey my honey by sending her a love text message today.

65. Roses are red, violets are blue. I can't wait until the wonderful day arrives in which I find myself marrying you.

66. Sherlock Holmes was an idiot and Robert Watt was a fool. One was a detective, the other invented radar. But neither of them ever discovered you. I must be a genius!

67. Smile! Because you have just received a text message from someone who really loves you. Have a great day!

68. Some people were born with talents. They can do beautiful things with their skills, knowledge and technology. But no one, and I mean on one is as talented as you. You just come near, and there is already beauty.

70. Someone asked what makes people happy. Some said wealth and some said fame. I was thinking about this when my cell phone beeped and received a text from you. Then, I smiled and said: "This makes me happy."

71. Text me when you are sad, text me when you need someone to listen to and you can't find anyone who will. I don't care if I'm your last option, I just don't want you to cry alone.

72. The spaces between our fingers were created so that another person's fingers could fill them in. I hope you've found your dream hand to hold you forever.

73. There are 4 steps to happiness: 1. you, 2. me, 3. our hearts, 4. happy life together!

74. There are 12 months a year...30 days a month...7 days a week...24 hours a day...60 minutes an hour...but only one like you in a lifetime.

75. There are only two reasons why I wake up in the morning: my alarm clock and you.

76. There is an ocean between us. Forests and mountains keep us apart. I may not be superman, but give me a second and I will fly across countries to send you my love. Have you received it?

77. There is night so we can appreciate day, sorrow so we can appreciate joy, evil so we can appreciate good, you so I can appreciate love.

78. There's a love that only you can give, a smile that only your lips can show, a twinkle that can only be seen in your eyes, and a life of mine that you alone can complete.

79. They can recycle paper till it's as good as new, reproduce cans and jars and old bottles too, but they can never ever recycle another person as wonderful as you.

80. They say as long as at least one person cares for you, life isn't a waste. So when things go terribly wrong, and you feel like giving up, please remember you still got me.

81. They told me I could do anything if I put my mind into it. Yet no matter how hard I try to do it, I just can't take my mind off you.

82. To be disturbed by the beep of your phone only means that somehow, somewhere, somebody is thinking of you and at this very moment, that's me. Take care always.

83. To forget you is hard to do and to forget me is up to you. Forget me not, forget me never. Forget this text, but not this sender. I will always love you! Just remember!

84. True love is hard to find, special one, one of a kind. I know because it appeared to me on a strange day I met you. We're not too close in distance. We're not too near in miles. But text can still touch our hearts and thoughts can bring us smiles. Good morning!

85. What good is beauty without brains, looks without charm, money without happiness, a smile without feelings, a life without you?

86. What is love? It is what makes your cell phone ring every time I send a text message to you.

87. Whatever you do, I'll walk with you. Hoping that your every dream would come true. Anytime, anywhere, I'll always be there. Wishing you love and happiness because I care.

88. When any situation ever gets you down, remember there's someone in heaven who loves you and watches over you and also there's someone on Earth who really cares… that's me.

89. When it rains, you don't see the sun, but it's there. Hope we can be like that. We don't always see each other, but we will always be there for one another.

90. When the time comes I can't smile anymore, don't worry about me, I know what to do. I'll just stare at one corner and think of you. No one else could make me happy like the way you do.

91. When you love someone, draw a circle around their name instead of a heart coz hearts can be broken but circles never end.

92. Whenever you feel blue, I will be there for you. Whenever you are sad, I will stay by your side. Whenever you need someone to love, I will always be there for you to have.

93. Words begin with ABC. Numbers begin with 123. Music begins with do, re, mi. And friendship begins with you and me!

94. You don't text often. You don't text much. It makes me feel sad coz we're out of touch. The message is clear. There's someone I really miss and it's you my dear! Have yourself a great day!

95. You greeted me hi, I didn't reply. You gave me a sweet smile, I responded with a sigh. You showed me your love, you received a shrug. But when you bid goodbye I began to cry.

96. You look fabulous today. How did I know? Because you looked fabulous in my dream and I can't get you out of my head.

97. You may never see how much I care for you. You may never hear how much I treasure you. You may never feel how much I miss you. Coz only here in my heart can you see them true.

98. You must be a thief coz you stole my heart. You must be tired coz you're always running through my mind. And maybe I'm a bad shooter coz I keep missing you.

99. You'll know that you miss someone very much when every time you think of that person, your heart breaks into pieces and just a quick "Hello" from that person can bring the broken pieces back.

100. You're like a target that I always try to aim at. How I wish I could aim you at the heart. But every time I fail, I feel so sad. You know why? It's because I always end up missing you.

So have fun with Bridal Text Messaging, use it for efficient communications and keep the fires and romance going before the wedding and remember to text your significant other at least once a day..

See you on the other side!